The present disclosure is related to patient support apparatuses including inflatable mattresses. More specifically, the present disclosure is related to a patient support apparatus having an inflatable mattress that varies in size during movement of the patient support apparatus to a chair egress position.
Patient support apparatuses, such as hospital beds, for example, may include deck sections that are expandable or retractable to vary the size of the deck section. For example, a patient support apparatus may include a deck section to support the lower legs with the foot deck section being extendable or retractable to act as a foot prop to support the foot of a patient on the patient support apparatus. In patient support apparatuses that move to a chair egress position, such as the Hill-Rom® TotalCare® bed, the foot deck section may retract to prevent interference with the floor when the foot deck section is lowered to a generally vertical position.
When a hospital bed moves to a chair egress position, the leg portion of the mattress of the hospital bed may present interference for the legs of a patient during the egress process. Mattresses also must be reduced in size during retraction of the leg portion of the bed. In the case of inflatable mattresses, the mattress may be deflated to reduce the size of the mattress. Material of the mattress sometimes sags to the floor due to the lack of support provided by air in the leg portion of the mattress when the leg portion is deflated.